Vehicle body sunroof assemblies have been used for quite some time to provide partial opening of vehicle body roofs in order to increase ventilation and to also provide the roof with a somewhat convertible-like capability of opening the vehicle occupant compartment. With some sunroof assemblies, the sunroof has a front edge that is secured to the roof and a rear edge that is movable upwardly from a closed position to an open position under the control of a latch mechanism. With other sunroof assemblies, the sunroof is mounted for longitudinal movement between a forward position closing the roof opening and a rearwardly retracted position below the roof to the rear of the roof opening such that the roof opening is partially opened to the environment. Examples of these two types of sunroof assemblies are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,005,901; 4,038,910; 4,085,965; 4,103,962; 4,126,352; 4,350,385; 4,403,805; 4,523,785; and 4,541,665.
In some roof constructions, there is insufficient room for a sunroof assembly of the rearwardly retractable type to have its sunroof stored below the roof in the rearwardly retracted position. To overcome this problem, it has previously been proposed to have the sunroof stored externally at a location above the roof in the rearwardly retracted position. Examples of such externally retractable sunroof assemblies are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,348; 4,005,900; 4,043,590; 4,407,541; 4,426,112; 4,463,983; and 4,475,767.
Vehicle sunroof assemblies as described above are conventionally mounted on a vehicle roof by cutting an opening through the outer roof panel over the front seat area that is selectively opened and closed by the sunroof. The lateral dimension of such sunroof assemblies is limited by the fact that the roof opening cut has to be located at each lateral side inboard from the adjacent side rail that defines the edge of the roof. Such side rails are conventionally defined by the adjacent side edge of the outer roof panel and by an inner rail that cooperates with the side edge to provide a hollow side rail for rigidifying the roof in order to provide the vehicle with structural integrity. The limitation on lateral width of sunroof assemblies is a particular problem with a recently introduced type of vehicle body wherein side door window frames have outer members that continue the contour of the outer roof panels at their side edges rather than being located below drip rails at the side edges of the roof. With this type of vehicle body construction, the side rails are located farther inboard than with the drip rail type of roof construction and there is thus less lateral space for the sunroof assembly to be mounted within an opening through the outer roof panel.
Vehicle T-roofs that have recently received commercial acceptance are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,120,529; 4,138,155; 4,287,654; and 4,475,766. Such T-roofs conventionally include a pair of removable roof panels that are located on opposite sides of a central strut extending between the windshield header and a rear roof portion. In a closed position, the roof panels extend between the windshield header and the rear roof portion outwardly in opposite directions from the strut and each roof panel defines the adjacent outer side edge of the roof at which an associated unframed side door window is sealed by a seal provided on the roof panel. Most conventional types of T-roofs have the roof panels made of metal or of glass that is usually tinted to reduce the transmission of solar heat into the vehicle occupant compartment. At their inboard edges as disclosed by the above mentioned patents, the T-roof panels are located relatively close to each other so as to provide the general appearance of continuity of the panels from one side door to the other, which is an aesthetically appealing design. It has not been previously possible to incorporate any door-to-door continuous panel appearance with sunroof assemblies as has been done with T-roofs since the opening cut into the roof for a sunroof assembly has to be located inboard from the side rails as described above.